Deuteronomy 11
Deuteronomy 11:1 “Therefore, care about Yahveh your God and always watch his mandate and his prescriptions, rules, and commands.
Deuteronomy 11:2 Understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of Yahveh your God: His greatness, firm hand, and outstretched arm;
Deuteronomy 11:3 his signs and the works he did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;
Deuteronomy 11:4 what he did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and Yahveh obliterated them;
Deuteronomy 11:5 what he did to you in the open country until you reached this place;
Deuteronomy 11:6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp, the land opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.
Deuteronomy 11:7 Your own eyes have seen every great work Yahveh has done.
Deuteronomy 11:8 “Watch every command I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong enough to cross into and take possession of the land you are to take possession of,
Deuteronomy 11:9 and so that you may live long in the land Yahveh swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 11:10 You see, the land you are entering to take possession of is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated by hand as in a vegetable garden.
Deuteronomy 11:11 But the land you are entering to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys, which gets water by rain from the sky.
Deuteronomy 11:12 It is a land Yahveh your God cares for. He is always watching over it from the first[1] to the last of the year.
Deuteronomy 11:13 “If you carefully obey my commands, I am commanding you today, to care about Yahveh your God and worship him with all your heart and all your throat,
Deuteronomy 11:14 I will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains, and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and fresh oil.
Deuteronomy 11:15 I will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.
Deuteronomy 11:16 Be careful, or else you will be enticed to turn aside, serve, and bow in worship to other gods.
Deuteronomy 11:17 Then Yahveh’s nose will burn at you. He will shut the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will be destroyed quickly from the excellent land Yahveh is giving you.
Deuteronomy 11:18 “Place these words of mine on your hearts and throats, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads.
Deuteronomy 11:19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 11:20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and your city gates,
Deuteronomy 11:21 so that as long as the sky is above the land, your days and those of your children may be many in the land Yahveh swore to give your fathers.
Deuteronomy 11:22 You see, if you carefully watch every one of these commands I am commanding you to follow – to care about Yahveh your God, walk in all his ways, and remain faithful to him –
Deuteronomy 11:23 Yahveh will take possession of all these nations before you, and you will take possession of nations greater and stronger than you are.
Deuteronomy 11:24 Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the open country to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.
Deuteronomy 11:25 No one will be able to stand against you; Yahveh, your God, will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot as he has promised you.
Deuteronomy 11:26 “Look, today I set before you an empowerment[2] and an affliction:[3]
Deuteronomy 11:27 there will be an empowerment, if you obey the commands of Yahveh your God I am commanding you today,
Deuteronomy 11:28 and an affliction, if you do not obey the commands of Yahveh your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known.
Deuteronomy 11:29 When Yahveh your God brings you into the land you are entering to take possession of, you are to proclaim the empowerment at Mount Gerizim and the affliction at Mount Ebal.
Deuteronomy 11:30 Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks of Moreh?
Deuteronomy 11:31 You see, you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land Yahveh your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and settle in it,
Deuteronomy 11:32 be careful to do all the prescriptions and rules I set before you today.
[1]רֵאשִׁית = first. Deuteronomy 11:12; 18:4; 21:17; 26:2, 10; 33:21.
[2] בְּרָכָה = empowerment (traditionally, blessing). Deuteronomy 11:26, 27, 29; 12:15; 16:17; 23:5; 28:2, 8; 30:1, 19; 33:1, 23.
[3]קְלָלָה = affliction (traditionally, curse). Deuteronomy 11:26, 28, 29; 21:23; 23:5; 27:13; 28:15, 45; 29:27; 30:1, 19.
Deuteronomy 11 quotes:
“Nor was it merely what Jehovah had done to Egypt and to Pharaoh that the people were called to remember, but also what He had done amongst themselves. How soul-subduing the judgment upon Dathan and Abiram and their households ! How awful the thought of the earth opening her mouth and swallowing them up ! And for what ? For their rebellion against the divine appointment.
Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. Loizeaux Bros 1880. p. 101.
The blessing and the curse, however, are contingent upon obedience to the law, which was about to be presented to the people in its detailed specifications. Thus the passage serves not only as a conclusion to the preceding part of the address, but also as an introduction to what follows, which sets the subsequent chapters within their immediate and proper perspective.
Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 212). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Deuteronomy 11 links:
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informative informal education
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, June 4, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, June 6, 2023
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